Shankar Vedantam

The story that's about to unfold before me is a story of obsession, its power, its beauty, and its costs.

This week on Hidden Brain, we bring you a classic episode about the peculiar life of a man named Riley Shepard.

He was a musician and writer who spent decades on a single grand project.

Whether that project was a great quest or a great folly, that is for you to decide.

He was a genius, I think.

I got to get this done.

I stumbled onto the story as I was contemplating an episode not about obsession, but about fallen heroes.

I'd asked Hidden Brain listeners to share examples from their own lives.

...was from Stasia Shepard Silverman.

She said her fallen hero was her dad, Riley Shepard, whom she still loved.

When we talk, Stasia tells me that as a young girl, she idolized her dad.

She has memories of those days that feel like tiny, sparkling gems.

Stasia would watch them, transfixed, as they rose in the air before her.

There was a lot that was magical for Stasia back then.

She still remembers their little apartment in Hollywood with the Siamese cat and the cat hair and the hardwood floors.

She remembers how much she loved that her dad was around all the time.

They were in their own little bubble.

Riley in his late 50s and his little daughter.

Typing, talking, just being together.

Sometimes, if Riley had a little money, he'd take Stasha out to eat at their favorite Hollywood hotspot, a restaurant called the Brown Derby.